July 30, 2025 – Toyota Motor Corporation achieved a record – breaking global sales figure in the first half of this year, with robust demand for hybrid vehicles in key markets offsetting the negative impacts of the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on cars imported into the United States.
On Wednesday, Toyota announced that its global sales in the first six months, including those of its subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor Co. and Hino Motors Ltd., rose by 7.4% year – on – year, surpassing 5.5 million vehicles. This growth was mainly driven by strong demand in the US, Japanese, and Chinese markets. At the same time, the company’s global production in the first half also increased by 8.8% to 5.5 million units, with domestic production in Japan growing by nearly 20%.
At the beginning of this year, the Trump administration’s move to levy a 25% tariff on imported cars created a wave of uncertainty across the global automotive industry. However, Japanese automakers gained an edge in a trade agreement reached this month, which reduced the tariff on Japanese cars imported into the US to 15%. The US is the largest export market for Japanese automakers, with Japan’s car exports to the US reaching $40.8 billion last year. Additionally, some models are imported from factories in Canada or Mexico. As the Japanese automaker most severely affected by the tariffs, Toyota had called for improved relations between the US and Japan and further tariff reductions.
Toyota also revealed that in June, its global sales grew by 2.7% to 937,246 vehicles, and production increased by 7.7% to 963,455 units. Although the resurgence of hybrid cars has brought significant profits to Toyota, it, along with other traditional car brands, is still facing fierce competition from electric vehicle manufacturers, led by Tesla and BYD. So far this year, Toyota has sold about 82,000 battery – electric vehicles, almost all of which were delivered to customers outside Japan.
In contrast, Honda Motor Co. saw an 8% decline in sales in June, reaching 285,479 vehicles, while its production remained roughly the same as the same period last year. Nissan Motor Co. also experienced a 5% drop in sales in June, with 262,133 vehicles sold.
